The invention relates to a bearing that includes two hollow cylindrical prop rings that coaxially surround an imaginary axis and which are elastically coupled in the radial direction by a bellows element formed from an elastomer material. The bellows element has a profile that includes at least one fold that protrudes in the axial direction with an axial length that does not overlap the axial length of any of the prop rings. At least one bumper is provided axially beyond the axial length of the fold.
A bearing such as that described above is disclosed in the German Utility Model Patent 81 00 855. In this patent, an annular element of flexibly compliant material is permanently arranged directly between the surface area of an inner ring and the inner surface of an outer ring.
It should be noted that in this known bearing the ring-shaped element of flexible material is unevenly stressed, particularly when it is subjected to large loads, by compressive and shearing strains in the radial direction in the area of its folds that protrude in the axial direction. Moveover, the buffering effect of the bumper, which is shaped like a wedge and which is arranged in the flexibly compliant material of the ring-shaped element, is not very satisfactory. The wedge-shaped formation of the bumper causes the material to be stressed unevenly. Also, considerable deflecting movements in the radial direction cause the surfaces defining the recess to lie against one another. This considerably restricts the service lift, because cracks form in the circumferential direction due to shearing strains.
The present invention is directed to providing a bearing that has an increased service life while at the same time having an improved performance.